1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a crown cap closure and closure method.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
The present application relates to a crown cap closure for containers, especially for bottles (glass bottles), and to a closure method.
Crown caps are very common and known as closures for containers, especially for drinks bottles made from glass, for example for beer and soft drink bottles. Crown caps comprise a circular piece of metal with a crown-like bent edge and a sealing inlay. The latter was originally made of cork which as a compressible intermediary provided the required and/or desired seal between the neck of the bottle and the metal. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE) are common today. Crown caps are also usually covered with protective lacquers to prevent, essentially prevent, restrict, and/or minimize corrosion.
The most common crown cap has twenty-one teeth, the advantage of the odd number of teeth being that they are not directly opposite one another and so avoid, restrict, and/or minimize tilting in conveyor units.
Crown caps are fitted to the containers by way of a closure machine which guides conveyed crown caps with the aid of, for example, a magnetic punch and presses them down onto the neck of the bottle. At the same time a cylindrical region lowers down around the crown cap to essentially ensure and/or promote that the toothed edge is bent over or crimped around the container's mouth region.
Some methods for closing containers may include and/or utilize crown caps that are closed onto the mouth end of a container while forming a sealing force-fit between the closure element and the container, with a provisional clamped connection being produced in a first closure phase and the final sealing force-fit being produced in a subsequent closure phase. The provisional clamped connection of the closure element to the container is produced by the plastic deformation of the crown cap. Such closure operations may comprise multiple stages with different, i.e. increasing, closure forces. Some methods or apparatus may disclose a further crown cap sealer in which a crimping head is provided which comprises protruding pin elements that can move for crimping over the edge of the crown. A pneumatic driving device is provided to generate an advance movement for the crimping head.
Some possibly hygienic devices may involve the container being closed in a sterile space generated by an inert gas.
Although the method and the devices commonly used for it are in widespread use, there is a problem in that, during the filling operation immediately or essentially immediately or generally upstream of the sealer, the container mouth is often moistened with product which can then go moldy in the space created beneath the fitted and crimped crown cap teeth. In any event the spaces beneath the crown cap form a partially open cavity in which contamination cannot be avoided, restricted and/or minimized and with which the consumer's lips come into contact.